| Coalition of University Employees (CUE) | 2855 Telegraph Ave., Suite #302, Berkeley, CA 94705 Contact CUE (510) 845-2221 (phone), (510) 845-7444 (FAX) |
COALITION OF UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES
State Headquarters: 2855 Telegraph Av., Berkeley CA (510) 845-2221 Fax (510) 845-7444
http://www.cueunion.org
UC Office of the President, 1111 Franklin Street, Oakland, CA
12 Noon -- 12:45pm, Thursday, February 17, 2005
Members of the Coalition of University Employees (CUE) will release the Fact-Finders' Report of Arbitrator Gerald R. McKay at a press conference scheduled for Thursday, February 17, 2005. CUE is the independent union that represents 16,000 clerical staff at the University of California's nine campuses and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Based on the testimony and evidence presented in a five-day hearing, Arbitrator McKay agreed with the union that university administrators had indeed diverted $20 million dollars originally budgeted for clerical salaries. McKay states, "Last year alone, the University diverted $20 million intended for clerical wage increases, choosing to spend the money on other purposes or add the money to reserves." This was based on the testimony of UC Assistant Vice President Jerry Kissler, who testified that UC diverted the funds into the $5.2 billion university reserve accounts and capital projects. In 2003-2004 alone the University reported a net income (revenues minus expenses) of $786 million.
The $20 million includes money earned by the University from research contracts, grants and other funding sources that build in a percentage increase each year for wages. UC administrators testified that for 2003-2004 UC budgeted a 6% salary increase for the members of the clerical bargaining unit, which would have amounted to $30 million. However, when the governor and legislators failed to allocate $10 million of the UC budget toward the salary increases, university officials diverted the $20 million from the clerical staff salary allocation and offered a 0% salary increase for 2003-2004.
As McKay summarized: "There are fundamental flaws in the University's basic position," and "there is no question that the University is in a position to afford a wage increase for the clerical employees^Ê Ultimately, the University may or may not prevail in its refusal to provide a wage increase to clerical employees, but the University's claim that it does not have the money to spend on them is not supported by the evidence." UC clerical and other low-paid workers have had no cost-of-living increases in over two years and are facing increases in costs of health benefits and parking fees.
McKay found that clerical employees are among the lowest paid employees working in the University system. When assistant positions at UC are compared to comparable positions at CSU, UC clericals earned approximately 22.7% less. He also found that for library assistants the wage gap is even more egregious -33%.
University officials were frantically working behind the scenes to suppress the public release of Mckay's report. Responding to the alleged leak of the draft report, which was quoted in the San Francisco Recorder, university officials warned the union that UC plans to pursue legal recourse. Release of the report prior to February 17 violates Government Code 3593(a), and the 3 person Fact-finding panel members have issued a letter of rebuke to the union. At this time it is unclear if there will be further legal consequences of the alleged premature release of the draft report.
Release on February 17 of the arbitrator's fact-finding report comes on the heels of recent disclosures of UC approving salary increases, relocation costs and perks for top administrators. Most recently Regents approved the creation of a $192,000/year position for the partner of the newly installed UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Denice D. Denton and the $6,500/monthly rent allowance for the new UCSD Chancellor, Marye Anne Fox, while a new multi-million dollar house for her is being constructed. Costs of relocating Chancellor Fox were pegged at $87,000. In January Regents approved bonuses for top UC medical center administrators averaging $36,000 and totaling $2.4 million at a time when there are reports of 400 layoffs at the UCLA medical center. The layoffs scheduled to occur in the next couple of months are due, UC claims, to decreased revenue.
Ari Krantz, attorney for CUE, asserts that, "UC tells the public that it is having a fiscal crisis while the evidence presented during fact-finding clearly proves that nothing could be further from the truth. The 2003-2004 net income (revenues minus expenses) of $786 million reported by the University would be termed 'annual profits' in the CUE chief negotiator Linda Moser noted that, "UC has already stated that it does not plan to follow any recommendation that Arbitrator McKay may have if that recommendation involves a wage increase. However, CUE will not let the matter drop. Our members have options, including the right to vote on whether to call for a strike to protest the University's completely immoral and inappropriate pay practices."
The press conference, scheduled to coincide with the public release of the Fact-finders' Report, will be held at the entrance to the UC Office of the President at 1111 Franklin Street, Oakland, from 12:00 Noon -12:45 p.m. on Thursday, February 17, 2005. In the event of rain the press conference will be held inside in one of the conference rooms. For more information on the press conference or copies of the Fact-finders' Report, contact the Berkeley CUE office at 510-841-0700 (berkeleycue@earthlink.net). In the case of inclement weather, call Amatullah Alaji-Sabrie (510-435-8417) or Loys Everett (510-987-9538) for alternate location information.
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For more information, contact:
COALITION OF UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES
State Headquarters: 2855 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley CA
(510) 845-2221; Fax (510) 845-7444
www.cueunion.org